Remote outdoor or wilderness locations often do not have accessible power sources that can be used to charge or power electronics. The most common approach to solve this problem of not having reliable access to electricity off the grid is the use of portable solar cells. Rechargeable external battery packs are also used as a supply of energy when outdoors, and, away from conventional energy sources. These solutions fail to adequately meet the needs of people in remote outdoor locations, however. In particular, micro solar solutions take long periods of time to charge and do not work at all times of the day. In addition, external batteries are nonrenewable making them useless weight once depleted. Hydroelectric generation has been a known and well-used power source, but, in general, this approach is not portable and easily deployed. Some small-scale, portable hydroelectric generators are available and on the market, but they use a fixed length flexible drive shaft to transfer power from a propeller in the body of moving water to generate electricity, and a storage system above water. This design limits the applications for the system, and also the locations where it can be deployed. The present invention provides solutions that overcome these shortcomings.